'This anger was the engine that powered Good Omens.'
You know, that quote that Gaiman likes to use to talk about Pratchett's work, always mystified me a little.
I've read Good Omens and I thought it was good. Not great. But good. And I definitely not remembered it as very angry.
I never much saw the anger in Good Omens. Withering sarcasm, sure. Veiled contempt, sure.
Anger? Hmmm.
But turns out; there were seeds of it in Good Omens, likely restrained. And they led to this.
I just read a particular part from Pratchett's Men at arms.
Turns out what really got Sir Terry Pratchett's hackles up was bigotry. Small-minded bigotry for the people that are different than us and the facets of it that permeate our society, altering it, turning it into a sty of anti-inclusivity and hate. So utterly relevant.
The rage and plain all-out despair just came rolling off the page.
I had to look at the cover of the book I was reading as I had a momentary doubt that Terry Pratchett hadn't in fact written it.
It is shocking how teeth-grittingly angry it feels.
It wasn't even much present up until now. Hints maybe.
In this part, there's this character, who's described as not really a bad person, but my god, at what is likely the darkest point in the book, does Pratchett shower bile over him. Inherent in the scene comes an unapologetic deluge of disapproval and contempt for the people like him.
It's something that's quite...
I'm not even sure what I'm looking for here.
Awe-inspiring, I guess...
This level of utter certainty; the utter dismissal of this character's views and opinions because that characer is utterly, narrowmindedly, idiotically wrong and biased and that those opinions are that character. Stupid and unchangable. Too stupid to be changed. Set in his ways.
And that these people that the character represents hurt the world around them so much, dismissing others, stripping them bare to an evil-minded handful of xenophobe slurs and statements, completely sure of their own righteousness. Happily continuing on their way, oblivious, while people suffer in their wake.
Pratchett's passion and conviction of this leads to an unabashed and uninhibited flaunting of anger, hate towards people in general who subscribe to these views.
This segment suddenly skyrockets this book upwards towards very lofty heights. Such dripping hate. So deliciously pure and unrestrained.
But it's literature with thunderheads. It's dark and there's no humour in sight.
What used to be just a fun reading diversion has become so much more. The telling of a sad and despairing truth.
A reminder that humanity is still the same bastard it has been since the start. A bigoted moron, unable to look past his own nose. Locking tight, locking close and disparaging anyone and anything that looks, smells or sounds different. And moreover the belief we don't really want to look at; that humanity is likely unable to change, no matter how much we might wish it. That there's too much hatred in the world and that it always comes rolling back because hatred always begets more hatred. We're fighting a battle against the wind and the wind is endlessly renewed.
It's staggering, It's stunning. The idea is not new but I haven't felt this kind of outrage in quite a while.
This here, is a book to remember.
No comments:
Post a Comment